


Meets and Sweets

by NotSummer



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Baking, Cookies, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Modern Girl in Thedas, Self-Insert, baking gone wrong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-09-14 01:19:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9150457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotSummer/pseuds/NotSummer
Summary: Gaati Adaar makes a new friend when she hides from her ambassador's paperwork in the kitchens.Originally posted on tumblr.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Saw a post on tumblr where someone wrote what would happen if they were an NPC in a video game. Decided to try my hand at it myself, and here's the result!

Gaati rushed into Skyhold’s bakery, eager to make it into the lovely smelling haven where Josie couldn’t ambush her with trade agreements and noble problems. The warm smell of cookies greeted her… up until she realized the acrid tang of smoke was mixed in with the constant scents of sugar and spice.

The woman hardly came up to Gaati’s chest, but her rounded shoulders were nearly as broad as the Vashoth spirit mage’s, making her look a bit larger than she was. Her muttering, a rumbling tone tinged with self deprecating amusement, was quiet, barely audible to Gaati.

Gaati stepped closer to eye the pan, and stopped in surprise. The cookies were completely burnt on one side, and completely uncooked on the other, a perfect gradient.

“Do you know I even turned the pan around? If there’s one I can’t bake, it’s desserts. I was the one that exploded the spirit food cake yesterday. Still finding bits of it in the oven. I mean. Not exploded or anything. Didn’t know they expanded like that.”

“And who are you,” Gaati questioned. The woman clearly knew her way around the kitchen, as she absent-mindedly weaved her way through the barrels and sacks of ingredients, although she knocked into one of the columns in the kitchen, letting out a quickly muffled swear. She hefted a bag of flour bigger than her torso, shuffling it into place.

“One of the baker’s aids. There’s a fancy word for it I’m sure.” The woman turned to scoop most of the cookies into the trash with a heavy sigh, leaving just three on the pan. “These, at least, should be edible.” The woman faced her fully for the first time, and hazel eyes flew open. “Oh. Inquisitor! Oh shit. Fuck. I mean. Oh, this is just perfect. I can’t embarrass myself in front of my peers, but sure, my boss’s boss. Why not the whole War Council while we’re at it?”

The woman rolled her eyes and held out her hand. “I’m Winter. Nice to meet you, even if the… ah… situation is not what I might prefer.”

“Gaati Adaar.”

The woman nodded, and in a dry tone added, “I figured as much. There’s not many Tal-Vashoth in the Inquisition, and even fewer with eyes like that. I’ll see you around, Lady Adaar. Or not. I don’t even know if I can face myself after this.” She added the last bit in a low mutter, and Gaati snicked.

“You don’t have to use any formalities with me,” Gaati offered.

The woman’s face twisted. “Yes, but my mother might appear from half the world away to lecture me if I don’t. Would Lady Gaati be an acceptable compromise?”

The Inquisitor nodded, taking a cookie and a seat at the massive counter in the middle of the kitchen. Winter snatched an apple and began slicing it, her leg bouncing as she took a seat across from Gaati.

“Where are you from?”

“A little town on the edge of Wycome. Called Austin. It’s near Antiva and just across the sea from Rivain. We’ve got plenty of music, and lots of fantastic food. No one here puts as much spice into things. Damn, I miss salsa. Decent salsa.” The woman’s voice relaxed, the higher tone softening into a flat measured cadence marred by a slight drawl. “Wycome is pretty liberal, even if its more rural areas… aren’t.”

“Sounds like a fun place. We mostly traveled in Orlais and Ferelden.”

“My condolences about Orlais,” Winter snarked, shaking cinnamon onto the apple slices. She separated the apples in two, and slid a plate over to Gaati. The kick of the cinamon was pleasantly offset my the apple’s sweetness, and Gaati sighed happily. She barely caught sight of a quickly hidden grin as Winter ducked her head, clearly pleased with her reaction.

“It had two ingredients, I’m pleased I didn’t mess this up,” she added, as she swallowed a particularly large slice.

“You say that like it was in question,” Gaati answered, raising her eyebrows at the aid.

“Ohhhh, it was,” Winter chuckled, her face splitting into a self deprecating grin. “I mostly do the soups for a reason, but the bakers have been needing help, so here I am,” she said, spreading her arms. “I’ve been leaning how to frost cakes, and bake pies, and burn cookies. It’s been fun.” 

A children’s book would have been harder to read than Winter’s expressions, and Gaati blurted out, “You don’t play cards, do you?”

Following Gaati’s outburst came a gentle smirk, which twisted into a rueful smile. “Hah! No, being broke doesn’t appeal to me.”

A candle flicked out behind Gaati and Winter’s eyes flew wide. “Maker’s balls! What time is it? I lit that candle when I got in here. Oh dear _oh dear **oh dear**_. Fuck! Sorry, Lady Gaati, I need to go! Lost track of time. I’ll see you around, I’m sure!” 

The door frame smacked her shoulder as the woman rushed out, but Winter didn’t even seem to notice. Gaati blinked, and opened her mouth a few times, then shrugged, reaching over the table to snag the other plate of apples, and the last cookie as she propped her book open and began to read in the dying light.

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. I am that clumsy.
> 
> 2\. Each mentioned baking incident has happened. I'm still bitter.
> 
> 3\. For some reason, I do work in a bakery. I enjoy it though.


End file.
